Molly Flagg Knudtsen Papers in Conjunction with the Max C. Fleischmann College of Agriculture

Thyrza Benson (Molly) Flagg was born on September 15, 1915, in New York City. Her 1937 marriage to Robert Gibb ended with a Reno divorce. She married Richard (Dick) Magee in Fallon in 1942 and raised Herefords on their Grass Valley Ranch. Later, she married Bill Knudtsen.

She founded the Austin Historical Society and Chamber of Commerce and became a trustee of the Nevada State Museum. She helped found the Nevada Archaeological Survey in 1968. She published two books about Grass Valley: Here is Our Valley and Under the Mountain. Proceeds from the University of Nevada Press's edition of Here is Our Valley benefit the Max C. Fleischmann College of Agriculture.

Knudtsen served as a University of Nevada System Regent from 1960-1980. She was awarded an honorary doctorate degree for her work in helping to establish the UNR Department of Anthropology and the Desert Research Institute. She also supported the establishment of the University of Nevada Press and served as Chair of the College of Agriculture Citizens Advisory Committee. The Knudtsen Resources Center on Valley Road in Reno was named in her honor in 1980. She received the Distinguished Nevadan Award from the Board of Regents in 1994.

She died in Reno on July 24, 2001.